Senior Business Officer

Connect2Luton; England; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority is looking for a Senior Business Officer to provide comprehensive administrative support to senior leaders, including the Executive Leader and Councillors. The role involves organizing meetings, drafting correspondence, and managing relationships with various stakeholders. Candidates should have relevant experience in administrative roles, strong communication skills, and the ability to manage diverse tasks effectively. The position requires a commitment to attending occasional evening and weekend events in the Borough.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in providing administrative support to senior politicians or management.
• Able to manage a diverse range of interactions with tact.
• Strong written communication skills for producing documents.
• Experience in organized workload management.
• Mentorship experience with junior staff.
• Familiarity with various software applications.
• Ability to recognize and address discrimination in service delivery.
• Understanding of the roles of Councillors and Officers in a large organization.

Responsibilities

• Organize and maintain diaries for the Executive Leader and others.
• Provide hospitality for internal meetings.
• Draft correspondence and reports on behalf of the Leader.
• Exercise judgment in prioritizing communications and issues.
• Filter telephone calls and visitors for senior leaders.
• Research and coordinate projects on behalf of leadership.

Skills

Administrative support

Tact and diplomacy

Document composition

Organizational skills

Mentoring

IT proficiency

Discrimination awareness

Corporate context understanding

Education

RSA III Word processing or equivalent qualification

Tools

Word processing applications

Spreadsheet applications

Email applications

Internet and social media applications

Job description

Connect2Luton are excited to recruit a Senior Business Officer on behalf of Luton Borough Council.

Main purpose of position :

To provide a full administrative and secretarial support service to the Executive Leader of the Council, the Leader of the opposition and occasionally the Mayor.

This role also provides a high level of practical and support to the Councillors to enhance the smooth running of the council.

You will be responsible to :

• Organise and maintain the diaries, including assisting in planning, through prioritisation, allocation and organisation of appointments within a scheduled work programme. Liaise with a wide range of people to ensure that all appropriate arrangements are made for meetings, seminars and conferences, organising travel and accommodation as necessary ensuring the Executive Leader is fully briefed on all relevant issues.
• Organise and provide hospitality for internal meetings. Liaising and co-working with the other Senior Business Officer is vital to ensure seamless cover is provided for the Leader of the Council, the Leader of the opposition and occasionally the Mayor.
• Draft and originate correspondence and reports (including committee reports) on behalf of the Leader of the Council. Liaise with Officers and Members to provide draft responses with and briefings to complex correspondence.
• Exercise personal judgement in ensuring that written communications are comprehensive, unambiguous, fluent, accurate and presented in a variety of appropriate styles dependent on the circumstances. Investigate and resolve where possible or refer complaints made to the Executive Leader and / or other Group Leaders.
• Receive and filter incoming telephone calls for and personal visitors to the Leader / Deputy Leader and Mayor, from a wide range of sources including senior management, other elected Members, VIP's other statutory agencies and the public.
• Exercise judgement in prioritising, dealing with matters within own remit and / or referring to the Leader / Deputy Council or elsewhere as necessary to ensure continuity. Initiate own calls where necessary exercising tact, discretion and courtesy. Ensure the Leader / Deputy can deliver digital and social media responses when necessary and as appropriate.
• Gather research intelligence and undertake specific time-limited projects on behalf of the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council, and as instructed by the Business & Member Support Manager.
• To co-ordinate input from across the Council and its partners, and sourcing external data and analysis (for example, from the internet) as necessary to ensure a detailed response and successful outcomes.

Skills and Experience :

In depth experience of providing administrative and secretarial organisational support role to senior politicians and / or senior management

Able to deal effectively with a wide-range of people in a courteous but assertive manner and able to exercise high levels of tact and diplomacy

Able to compile well written and grammatically correct documents and letters

Able to plan and organise workload to meet organisational priorities and deadlines and to facilitate the progression of important events and issues

Able to motivate, manage and develop Junior colleagues through mentoring and coaching

Able to use word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail and internet and social media applications

Able to identify when discrimination is taking place in service delivery or in the work -place and take appropriate action where this is identified

Understanding of the corporate context of Councillor and Officer roles, or in the operation of a large organisation at corporate level

RSA III Word processing OR equivalent qualification OR equivalent experience

Ability to attend occasional evening and weekend events, meetings or engagements at or around the Borough. Attendance to 2 civic functions per annum.About Us

Luton Borough Council have partnered with Kent County Council to create Connect2Luton, a recruitment managed service for all contingent temporary agency, contract, and interim roles at the Council.

Our heritage and being local government owned which means we have a wealth of knowledge and expertise within the public sector, with many of our employees having previously worked for the Council or have supplied previously into the Council, for several years.

We are an equal opportunities employment agency and business that positively encourages applications from all suitably qualified and eligible candidates.

Connect2Luton is a trading style of Luton & Kent Commercial Services LLP - A joint venture between Luton Borough Council & Commercial Services Kent Ltd. Connect2Luton is an equal opportunities Employment Agency & Business. It positively encourages applications from all suitably qualified and eligible candidates